Thursday, December 1, 2011

A few years ago I painted this painting because I had read Chief Seattle's last oration given in 1854. There is a great deal of
controversy surrounding Chief Seattle's speech of 1854 and even whether or not he really even gave one. There are
many sources of information, various versions of the speech, and debates
over its very existence. I really didn't care about whether or not Chief Seattle actually gave an oration or if it was altered, what I cared about was the sentiment of what I was reading. And the quote that I painted engraved in the side of the tree reads "Man Did Not Weave the Web of Life, He is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself". I then painted Chief Seattle's portrait in amongst the redwoods and made mankind to be a very small figure in the center. I finished it off by reusing the picnic table destined for the land fill.